Tight hip flexor latest Ginobili ailment

Updated 11:34 pm, Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Photo: Christian Petersen, Getty Images

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PHOENIX, AZ - APRIL 13: Manu Ginobili #20 of the San Antonio Spurs reacts on the bench after an injury in the NBA game against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center on April 13, 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Manu Ginobili

PHOENIX, AZ - APRIL 13: Manu Ginobili #20 of the San Antonio Spurs reacts on the bench after an injury in the NBA game against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center on April 13, 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE

Every time it seems that Spurs guard Manu Ginobili has put his injury woes behind him this season, he is beset by another nagging ailment.

The latest: A tight hip flexor that forced him to the sidelines midway through the third quarter of Monday's game against the Washington Wizards at the AT&T Center.

Officially, Ginobili is listed as a game-time decision for tonight's home game against the Orlando Magic.

“Manu, Manu, Manu,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich moaned after Tuesday's practice session. “We'll see how he is tomorrow. What is that (called)? Game-time decision? Day-to-day? Whatever you want to call it.”

Popovich said Ginobili has been stuck in a sort of time warp that has made the entire season seem like a repeat of training camp.

“You never (give up), because it's Manu,” Popovich said, “but it's his third attempt to get through training camp is basically what it amounts to. He's working through it.”

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Ginobili opened the season well enough, averaging 19.5 points through four games before fracturing a fifth metacarpal in his left hand in the fifth game of the season, on Jan. 2.

The veteran of nine-plus seasons returned after missing 24 games over five weeks but suffered a strained left oblique in his fourth game back. He returned from the oblique strain on March 4 and averaged 15.7 points in three games before the hip flexor tightened in Monday's game.

Minimizing mistakes: Rookie forward Kawhi Leonard has averaged 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in an average of 22.4 minutes per game during the past five games. He sat out the first of seven home games after the All-Star break with a strained muscle in his right calf, but Popovich said his production hasn't been as impressive as his on-floor acumen.

“He doesn't seem to make mistakes,” Popovich said. “He's not careful, because careful can cause you to lack aggressiveness, but he just doesn't make mistakes in situations, and he seems to read other situations at both ends, whether it's a passing lane on defense or a back-door on offense. So he's got a pretty good head for the game.”

The 15th selection in the first round of the 2011 draft, Leonard ranks 14th among rookies in scoring (7.4 points per game) and fifth in rebounds (5.0).

“He's really surpassed our expectations, mostly at the offensive end,” Popovich said. “We knew we would get somebody who would deflect passes and work and do all the blue-collar stuff, but he's surpassed everything we thought he would do for us initially at the offensive end.”

Why he's spry: Searching for a word to explain how 35-year-old Tim Duncan was able to throw down three dunks in the first quarter Monday, Popovich settled on one ordinarily reserved for senior citizens.

“The whole year he's been, for lack of a better word, more spry,” Popovich said. “He's quicker in the things he does, and I guess it's just because he does what he does. He really takes care of himself, watches what he puts in his body, does his rehab work; he's very disciplined.

“He knows he's getting older and has to make up for it in some other ways, and that's care and conditioning.”